Music / Run-D.M.C.

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Run-D.M.C. were a Hip-Hop group from Hollis, in the Queens borough of New York City. They have been widely acknowledged as The Beatles of hip hop, being one of the greatest rap groups in history. Run-D.M.C. have brought harder, grittier elements into their sound than the other bands of their day. They brought in a street attitude in their style with jeans, sneakers, fedoras, and black leather jackets. Unlike other hip hop groups who sampled funk and disco records, they instead sampled noisy keyboards, industrial sounds, and most prominently rock guitar, paving the way for the big Rap Rock movement of the nineties, and becoming the first rap group to go Platinum. They famously collaborated with Aerosmith to remix their song "Walk This Way," which was a huge hit, bringing Aerosmith back into popularity, and bought Run-D.M.C. acceptance with white music fans, when hip hop was previously a "fad" among black people.

The band broke up after Jam-Master Jay was tragically shot and killed at his recording studio on October 30, 2002, sending the hip hop community into shock. The remaining members then went off to pursue solo projects.

Videography:

They are interviewed in the TV documentary Big Fun in the Big Town (1986), at the moment in history when the success of "Walk This Way" broke them to the mainstream.

Tropes associated with Run-D.M.C.:

Actually Pretty Funny: "It's Not Funny" lists a lot of situations that aren't hilarious to the person whom they should happen to, but some of them are pretty amusing to the listener. Others are downright ridiculous.

Badass Preacher: Run was ordained a Pentecostal minister in the early 2000's, hence his current stage name "Rev. Run."

Berserk Button: The group really doesn't like Calvin Klein. Everytime they reference it in their songs it's in dismissive terms.

Various A&M Records Artists - "A Very Special Christmas" and "A Very Special Christmas 2."

King Dream Chorus and Holiday Crew - "King Holiday."

Cut Song: "Slow And Low," which never made it past the demo sessions for King of Rock. The Beastie Boys heard the song and sought Run-D.M.C.'s permission to cut their own version, note they changed a couple of the more self referential lyrics that wouldn't have really made sense delivered by anyone else, but still credited the songwriting entirely to the members of Run-D.M.C. and producer Rick Rubin, which appeared on Licensed to Ill. The original "Slow and Low" demo would appear as a bonus track on a 2005 "deluxe edition" of King Of Rock.

Dead Artists Are Better: Although Jam-Master Jay always was well respected when he was alive, it was only after he died that people started to realize how important he was to the band. Important to the point of the band splitting up instead of getting another DJ.

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